Author: The Mesa Maven

I am what you might call a super-heavy user of Canyon Park, Fairview Park and Talbert Nature Preserve. Most mornings you’ll see me trail-running along the paths. (Yes, I trail-run for fun.) Sundays are my “distance day.” I wake up before dawn and get in my longest trail-run of the week. So by Monday morning? I’m not running. At. All. I’m limping along through the canyon, plugged into a podcast, and trying my best to “walk it off.”

Yesterday’s post was all about struggle. (And it’s real.) Today’s is all about… veggies! Some may be thinking, “Oh great. Two sad-sack posts in a row.” But no downer here. For me, veggies and fruit are topics of pure, parsnip-pickled perfection! I love me some produce – almost as much as I heart Costa Mesa. Luckily it’s been easy-breezy to get all my fresh veg here in Costa Mesa since going #costamesa365…

I am nearly three weeks into the #costamesa365 challenge and I’m beat! Being mindful about my every purchase was exhilirating at first – like a fresh-born fawn excited to test those wobbly new legs – but today, it’s hard and I’m tired and I’d rather just nap in the grass than figure out a new place to get my car serviced, thank you very much. Yes, I’m hitting a slump as we round the corner into Week Three…

Last spring, we became the proud owners of Disneyland Annual Passes. They are the cheap ones, so we can only go on select weekdays – and then not-at-all for large swaths of summer and most holidays. We actually didn’t end up going that often. Maybe 3 trips, total, this past year? So even before #costsamesa365, I was already 50/50 about whether we’d renew again in 2019. Then, I just heard that with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening this summer, word on Main Street is the park will get SUPER packed. They anticipate turning people away at the entrance. Whether that rumor is true or not, the park’s going to be crazy busy. Which means this introvert is hanging up her ears…

Today, photographer extraordinaire Brandy Young and I went over to Anthill Shop N Play. We were there to interview the luminous Elvira Kud for our first feature article of the year. Yay! Interviewing again felt so good. I mean, hanging out with Brandy is always a good time. We crack each other up and love looking for fun little things to shoot on location. But also, it’d been a few months since I’d done my own feature. As I Heart Costa Mesa grows, I find myself busier with things that pull me away from my first love… writing!

Day 16 of #costamesa365 and I’m still on the search for the perfect, Costa Mesa salad to replace my beloved Stonfire Grill. Sigh. I’m calling the mission “Roughage Reconnaissance” and it’s DEFCON 1 – or DEFCON 5 – whichever is the most serious DEFCON. So far, my first foray resulted in a very delicious banh-mi sandwich, which – being a sandwich – is also not a salad. So let’s try this, again…

All eyes on Costa Mesa since Jan. 1. So much so, that I seem to have forgotten something. Whoops! It just occurred to me that sooner or later, I am going to need to address the issue of all the shops and services I have left behind…

I always feel a bit unmoored between podcast seasons. Partly it’s because our producer, Danny Thompson, is an *actual* rockstar, which means two things: 1) He’s, like, the coolest person we know, and, 2) he’s touring a lot. So we get creative and work our podcast schedule around his tour dates. When we are recording episodes, it’s a wild spree. Bam-bam-bam – interview after interview – very fast and furious so we can squeeze them all in before their air dates. Then just as quickly as it begins? It’s over…

This week, I was delighted to deliver a big box of I Heart Costa Mesa shirts and stickers to Estancia High School. The swag is to be included in a welcome gift for a group of student delegates visiting us all the way from Australia. It’s all part of a “sister city” exchange program where a group of Costa Mesa teens visits Australia, and then a group of Australian teens visits Costa Mesa. So cool!

We’re a dozen days into the #costamesa365 challenge – an entire year where I’m trying to spend money only in Costa Mesa – and the ripple effects are already playing throughout my life. I’m unexpectedly saving money on gas and just on shopping in general. I’m discovering new foods and better ways to move through discomfort. Sure I’ve had a setback or two, made some mistakes, but I’m learning and growing – a lot!

Who else has discovered Gas Buddy? It’s an app, or website if you prefer, that tells you the current price of gas around town. Super easy to use – I like the map feature so I can just visually check out “the lay of the pumps” near me.

This post is really about Love Costa Mesa Day 2019, coming May 18th to our fair city. (More info on this awesome, citywide event, below.) But first, I have to come clean about a doh! mistake on my quest for #costamesa365. So, I was planning to meet up with Sharon Hurd for coffee. (She wanted to talk to me about Love Costa Mesa Day and what they had planned.) Since we are both Westsiders, I suggested Common Room Roasters just down the street…

January is a busy month for birthdays in my family. We’ve got four. Usually, about this time of year, I’m still recovering from the holidays. Just settling back into my routine when suddenly I panic, “Sweet cupcake! It’s my dad’s birthday tomorrow!” The “old me” would be one-day Prime-shopping like a boss and get it all done via the Interwebs and UPS. The #costamesa365 me packed up the kids and drove over to Metro Pointe and South Coast Plaza…

Frugal. Such an unpleasant-sounding word. Like a mealy, green toe fungus. “You’ve got a bad case of frugal.” Or when a judge really throws the book at you. “Verdict’s back: you’ve been frugaled!” Everyone likes to save a buck, get a good deal. Most people want to stash some rainy-day funds, feel secure. But frugality? “Blech. You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Day 3. I look up from my laptop just in time to see the van slow to a stop. It’s here! I glance furtively around as anxiety builds in my throat. Which neighbors are out? Anyone walking dogs? No, too early. Good. With school on break, it’s an unusually low-traffic day on my street. Satisfied that we’re alone, my eyes find the van, again. The door opens. It’s him!

The response to #costamesa365 from friends, family and neighbors, so far, has run the gamut. Most people are positive and cheer me on – which is so appreciated, I need the support! A handful of reactions has been, well, less than enthusiastic…

Yes, Roughage Reconnaissance has begun in earnest. It was time to find a Costa Mesa replacement for my beloved, now unrequited, Stonefire salad. So, on the advice of the lovely, helpful neighbors in our Facebook Group, I made a plan to swing by Mendocino Farms for lunch…

I’d like to share that I calmly transitioned to #costamesa365 in a state of serene mindfulness. I’d like to say that it was “no biggie” to just scrap my fatal attraction to Amazon. I’d like to tell you that three days before this challenge started, I absolutely did not panic-buy extra bricks of toilet paper and laundry soap at a certain Fountain Valley Costco. I’d be lying.

Yes, I am writing this post with a clear head. No, I’m not talking about giving up the drink. But the headline is more appropo than you know because I am currently in the throes of some seriously cold-turkey detox… off my deep dependence on Stonefire salad…

My problem is that I live on the very edge of town. That pic is from Fairview Park right near my house. From there, you can literally look off the edge of a cliff, across the Santa Ana River, to Huntington Beach below. Over here in Westside Costa Mesa, it’s all too easy to just “pop across the river” into nearby Huntington Beach for things like gas, Trader Joe’s, Target – oh and a quick coffee pick-me-up while I’m at it. Nothing personal, it’s an edge thing.

“Wait…WHAT!?!” I had just told my husband we’d be making 2019 a “let’s only shop in Costa Mesa for 365 days” kind of year. He was less than enthused. Which is weird, he’s usually game for anything. I mean, I’ve sent him to ride sidecar at the Costa Mesa Speedway… with no prior experience; get in the ring with a professional MMA fighter… with no prior experience; and get an enema on camera with… well, you get the idea.